Piano sounding-board and frame.



T. A. loHANsoN. PIANO SOUNDING BOARD AND FRAME.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20. 1914- `Patented Dec Li-MTE@ srarns PATENT OFFICE THURE A. J CHANSON, OF ST. CHARLES,v ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO Ill-IE` CABLE COMPANY, o

OIF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF l.IIJLIN'OIS VPIANO SOUNDING-BOARD AND FRAME.

Application filed March 20, 1914. Serallil'a 825,944. o

board construction; to arrange to secure the to a piano sounding proper crown or curvature of the same in a simple and e'ective manner, and to insure the maintenance of such crown or curvature permanently; to insure against breakage or damage upon expansion or contraction of the sounding board; and to secure the foregoing and other desirable results in a simple and expeditious manner.

In the accompanying drawings, iS a rear elevation of a piano having a sounding board embodying my present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2--2 in Fig. l; Y,

Figs. 3 and 4 are views of detailsof construction.

In the drawings, case l mounted on casters way. A sounding board 3 is I show a piano having a 2 in the usual located in the rear of the piano, the same consisting of a y moderately thin web or sheet of material, preferably wood, as shown in Fig. 2. This sounding board has an irregular shape, as shown in Fig. 1, having curved edges at the upper right hand and lower left hand portions of the board and substantially straight angularly-disposed intermediate portions connecting said curved edges. Ribs a-a are mounted upon the back'face of the sounding board. As a preferred arrangement, edge or rim members 4 and 5 are secured to the rear of the sounding board along said curved edges. Other edge or rim members 6, 7, 8 and 9 are preferably secured along the intermediate angularly disposed straight edges of the board, as shown in Fig. l. The edge or rim members 4 and 5 are preferably made of laminated Specicationiof Letters Patent.

Figure l f Patented pee. 11, 1917..

strips of wood,although they could beof othermaterial; I also preferably pro-vide in accordance with inyinvention, av pair fof spring,mena-V bers 10 and Il which are preferablyV curved or bow-shaped, as shown infFig. land a`rranged with their convexsi'des toward and in cont-act with'the ycurved edge or rim members `i andl rI lhese, meinbers IOIand 1l are preferably made of laminatedwooden strips also, bent,in the proper form. They are desirably "arranged'fin position ,by Ahaving, their endstt'ed intoa'pertures in the side uprights'and topfand `bottom of the piano frame and "then held in place bywedges 12-12 drive-,n into such aperturesjand jammed against the endparfts of saidmem? bers. This sets the members 10 Vand 11V firmly in'positionand'hold's vthem such A 'permanentlyfit being understood positie-11 that members l0. and 11v` are adjusted, `when cause the o, sounding board to properly resist they are fitted in place, .to such tension as tothe flattening Vpressure ,of the strings Vand i also .tohave'the desired crownorcurvature.

Saidnieinbers 10 and 11, by ,beingV securely` heldin position, thus insure 'the sounding! board Vretaining its `proper position," resistf ance and' r5{silien `:y. The resiliencyof theA membersA lOand `l1 `'has the advantagelof permitting on the Vpart ofthe soiindingboard, ysuch for example as a moderate amount v,of expansion due to changes in temperature or moisture conditions, without causing any breakage or damage or any trouble. This moderate amount of yield is a very desirable feature and the whole construction and arrangement is advantageous because it insures giving and maintaining the proper amount of curvature to the sounding board, and at the same time arranging to take up moderate changes in size of the sounding board 'due to atmospheric changes.

It will be understood that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

lVliat I claim is:

1. The combination of a sounding board and resilient members located at opposite side edges of said board and arranged to control the fieXure thereof.

2. The combination with a sounding board, of a bow-shaped resilient member certain] amount "off movement vedge memberfand a bow-shaped spring member, of substantially the width yof said edge member, acting upon the latter in substantially the plane of the sounding board. 5. .The combination, in an upright piano,`

of a sounding board, and spring members located at diagonally-opposite corners of said piano and acting upon the edge of said sounding board to control the flexure thereof.

6. Thecombination, in an upright piano,

of a sounding board, and spring members located at diagonally-opposite corners of said piano and acting upon the edge of said soundingboard to control the fleXure thereof, said spring members consistingof bovvshaped Wooden strips.

-. 7. The combination of a sounding board having oppositely disposed curved edges provided with transversely projecting curved edge members, and vbow-shaped lspring inem-` bers acting upon said curved edge members. 8. Thecombination of a sounding board having oppositely disposed curved edges provided with transversely projecting curved edge members, and bow-shaped spring niembers acting upon said curved edge members, said spring members being secured to supporting membersv of the kpiano frame.

'9., The combination, inv an upright piano,

0f a sounding board having oppositely dis- Gepies' of this patent may bevrobtained for posed curved edge portions provided With correspondingly curved edge members, and also having angularly disposed straight edge portions between said curved edge portions, said straight edge portions being also provided With edge members whereof a vertical edge member fits against a vertical side of Athe piano frame, and curved spring members arranged at diagonally-opposite corners vof the piano and having their ends secured in horizontal and vertical members of said piano, the convex facesfof said curved spring members being in contact With the faces of said curved edge members on Vsaid sounding board.

" l0. The combination of a sounding board having one of its side edges'provided with a convex member Vformed of laminatedv ivooden strips, `and aboW-shaped resilientV member formedY of laminated Wooden-`strips,`

said resilient member lying in substantially the plane ofthe sounding board and having its conveXvface in contact With theiconveX face of the edge member on said sounding board. f L' ll. The combination of a sounding board having opposite side edges provided with convex laminated Wooden strips, and a pair of bow-shaped resilient members located at said opposite side edges of, said board, said members lying in substantially Vthe plane off the board and having their convex faces iny Contact With the convex` faces of said edge strips on said board.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribel my name this 25th day of February, A. D., 1914.

d THURE A. Joni/uvson. Vitnesses l PAUL B. KLUGH, e f

J. B. HECKLER.l Y

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ef Patents, Weshington,D.C.'Q 

